A sign ordering women to "wait for their husbands in a concealed area" has caused a stir among activists working against the exclusion of women from the public sphere in Israel • "Wait for your husband behind the white van and such places so that you won't serve as an obstacle to those praying," the sign says, according to a picture of the sign published by Channel 2 news.

Israel Hayom Staff

No hidden meaning: Sign tells women to conceal themselves lest they tempt men at prayer.

|

Photo credit: Channel 2

A sign ordering women to "wait for their husbands in a concealed area" has caused a stir among activists working against the exclusion of women from the public sphere in Israel.

The latest sign, one of a series of similar billboards in ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem neighborhoods, was placed opposite a synagogue and reads: "A request and demand."

"Wait for your husband behind the white van and such places so that you won't serve as an obstacle to those praying," the sign says, according to a picture of the sign published by Channel 2 news.

"Women waiting for their husbands are requested to strictly obey! Wait only in secluded spaces such as behind the white van and not opposite the entrance to the synagogue, so that there won't be any mishaps or obstacles, God forbid, to those praying inside and to students of the Beit Midrash."

The sign is the latest manifestation in what some are calling the increasing exclusion of ultra-Orthodox women from public spaces. In recent years, women traveling on buses along routes that go through haredi areas in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak have reported instances of being forces to sit in the back. Likewise, an advertising company that provides banner advertising on Egged buses removed women and girls from pictures in the ads due to pressure from haredi groups. Separate walkways in Jerusalem's haredi neighborhoods have also been set up, despite a High Court ruling that such separation is illegal.